Meteb



March 15, 1932. c.: F. sPERY METER FOR WASHING AND LIKE MACHINES 1927 3Sheets-Sheet Filed April 25,

...MNHN/w OII March 15, 1932. c. F. SPE'RY METER Non- WASHING AND LIKEMACHINES 3 .Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April-25. 1927 mmh 15, 1932. f C, F,SPERY.4 1;s49,116

IIETER FOR WASHINQ AND LIKE MACHINES Filed April 25. 1927 5 sheets-Sheet5 zo and off at the will of the user, and thus reoperation.

Patented Mar.l1 5, 193 2' i l i ,UNITED STATES PATENT-orner;

cuantas F. srrmr. or cmcaco, rumors mann ron. wasme AND LIKE mecum-Es AApplication mea-'apra as, 1927. serial no. maaar.v

This invention relates to meters' for electhings, a meter so constructedthat it'may be trically operated domestic washing machines. connectedwith and operated by the motor of Inmetered washing machines asheretofore the washing machlne and thus save the cost employed,.themeters are coin controlled, and and maintenance of an additionalmotor-as 5 the machine runs only as long as the time alemployed in myformer constructlon. v 5| lowedforA the value of thearticular coinAnother object of my present Yinvention is dropped into the meter. This'time is relal to require each user to manipulate but a ti'vely short.and usually several coins must single key for starting and stopping themeter be' dropped into the meter before a` washing and the motor,respectively, and thus avoid lo is completed. Even thenvthe machine maythe use of two keys, as-in my previous` con- 00v run longer thanrequired to complete the struction. l washing so that the user .isrequired to pay A further object of my present invention for thisovertime. vis to allowvthel user by a single key to start In mycopending application Serial No. and stop the meter and the washingmachine 1.5 `177,130,`iled March 21, 1927, now Patent No.-simultaneously, so that no opportunity 1s 66- 1,801,618, granted April21, 1931, I have disa'orded for the meter to continue to operate rclosedand claimed a. meter which is ke after the washingmachine has beenstopped operated and not coin operated and throug to register againstthe user more than the which the washing machine maybe turned on actualtime the'washing machine Was in to the actual time the machine isoperated tion will appear from the following specifiand-no more. For anumber of .users of a cation, taken in connectionwith'the accomsinglemachine, the meter is provided with panying drawings, in which- 2i asmany time registering units as there are Fig. 1 shows a domestic type ofwashing 75 users for the machine, for example six, with machine equippedwith a. meter of myin- Y strict the charge for the use of themachineOther and further objects of my inven different keys for the severalunits so that vention; the respective users can operate the machine Fig.2 is a front view of the meter, the-v only through their respective umts'and no *cover being broken away to show the interior 30 others. Jmechanism; 8

In my copending application, it is contem- Fig. 3 is a verticalsectional view taken on plated to operate the meter thereof by an line 33 of Fig-3.2; f electric motor which is separate and distinct Fig. 4 isa horizontal'sectional View taken from the motor which operates theWashing on line 4 4 of Fig. 2; and

35 machine. This isnot objectionable but from Fig. 5 is a front view ofone of thekey 85 the standpoint of economy of construction operablelocks with which the meteris proand operation is not desirable becausetwo vided. .v i motors are required, one,for the meter .and In Fig. 1, 1lindicatesa domestic washing the other for the Washing machine,Furmachine electrically operated b y an electric l 0 thermore, in myprevious construction two motor 2 mounted on the frame of the ma- 9 keyoperable means are employed, one for the fchine. V The motor 2 is arraned with its armeter and the Other OI th@ 11101901 Switch- 'mature shafthorizontal an connected by This is also not objectionable, but itrequires suitable gearing with the agitator or equivaeach user o'f themachine to manipulate two lent vmember (not shown) in the tub or wash-45 keys before'the meter and the washing maing compartment of themachine. Tlie arma- 95 l chine can beset in operation. t-ure shaft ofthe motor is provided with an The main object of my present inventionextension 3 supported at its -outer end in a is to provide a meter whichVis'an improvehanger 4 depending from the frame of the menton the one ofmy other application. machine. At Vthe Ahanger 4, the extension 3 Toaccomplish this,I provide, among other has a bevel pinion` 5in mesh witha bevel 1 gear 6 on the lower end of a vertical shaft 7 which extendsinto the box or casing 8 of the meter which is rigidly secured to thehorizontal frame section 9 of the machine, as shown in Fig. 1. By thedrive shown and described, the operative parts of the meter. are drivenby the motor 2 of the machine 1, and thus a separate motor to operatethe meter is not required.

The box or casing 8 of the meter is preferably made rectangular inshape, and has enclosing walls, 10 being the rear wall and j 11 thefront wall, the latter being in the form of a cover which is hinged tothe top wall 12 of the box, as shown in Fig. 3. Any suitable form oflock may be employed for locking the cover 11 in closed position so thatunauthorized persons may not open the box to tamper with the metermechanism or the switch for the motor, which is also enclosed withinsaid box. In Fig. 3, I have shown the lock in the form of a bar 13extending across the bottom of the box on the inside and rigidly securedat one end to the rear wall 10. The other end of the bar extends outsideof the box through a slot or opening in the cover 11 and there isapertured to receive a padlock 14 for locking the cover closed.

Located in the upper portion of the box 8 is a vertical plate 15, whichis secured to the rear wall 10. Extending along this plate in front ofthe same is a horizontal shaft 16 journaled in a suitable number ofbrackets 17 which are secured to the plate 15. The shaft 16 is driven bythe shaft 7 at a much slower speed by a worm 7 on the sha'ft 7 in meshwitha worm' gear 16a on the shaft4 16. The latter has a length toaccommodate a number of registering units 18, 18, which are arranged inside by side relation along the shaft and in front of the same, as shownin lFig. 2. There four units are shown; the

number, however, depending on the number of users to be accommodated bythe meter. Ordinarily, the meter will contain six units y to tale careof six users, thus/adaptingl the washing machine to a six-apartmentbuild- The units- 18 are madealike, so a description of one will sufficefor all. Each unit 18 comprises inner and outer vertical plates 19, 20bolted together yet spaced by spacers on the bolts, as .shown in Fig. 3.The inner plate 19 has rearwardly extending brackets 21, 21 by which theunit is secured to and spaced outward from the base plate 15.

The outer plate 20 is provided on its frontface with a number of dials,preferably three, 22, 22", and 22", arranged in the order named. Thedials are suitably graduated, as for example from 0 to 9 as shown. Ashaft 23 extends through the center of 'each dial and has a pointer24 atits outer end to travel about the dial in the rotation of the shaft.

AThe dials-are arranged with the dial 22 first in order and nearest theright-hand end of the casing 8 as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2. The firstdial registers minutes, its hand 24 taking sixty minutes to complete onerevolution about said dial. The other dials 22, 22b register hours, itrequiring ten hours for the hand of dial 22 to 'complete one revolutionabout said dial, and a hundred hours for the hand of dial 22h to goaround said dial. The shafts for the hands of the several dials arejournaled in the inner and outer plates 19, 20, and are connected bygears and pinions of the proper diameters and teeth to give this ratio.This part of the unit follows the construction of an ordinary domesticgas meter.

The shaft 23 of the dial 22 is made longer than the other shafts and isslidably mounted in the plates 19 and 20. The pinion 25 on this shaft ismade wide enough to remain in mesh with the gear 26 on the shaft of thedial 22 in the endwise sliding movements of the shaft 23. The latter isprovided at its inner end with a cup gear 27 to the rear of the plate 19and is moved with the shaft 23 into and out of mesh with a gear pinion28 on the main operating shaft 16 to connect the unit to and disconnectit from said shaft.

For so moving the gear 27, I provide an arm 29 secured at its upper endto the plate 19 on the outer side thereof above the shaft l16, as shownin Fig. 3. This arm extends across the shaft 23 and there has anaperture for said shaft to pass through, as shown in Fig. 4. The hub ofthe pinion 25 is on one side of the arm and a collar 30 is fixed to theshaft on the opposite side of the arm so that the' latter may slide theshaft endwise when the lower end of the arm is moved inward and outward,respectively.

To accomplish this, I provide for the meter `unit 18 a Yale or similarlock 31 mounted in a stationary horizontal bar 32, which extendslengthwise of the box beneath the several units, as shown in Fig. 3. Thebar 32 is supported just inside of the cover 11 by rods 33, which extendto the rear wall 10 of the box and are secured thereto. The casings ofthese locks are fixed in the bar 32 by set screws, as shown, and projectout through and substantially lill openings made therefor in the cover11 when the latter is closed.

The barrel or rotatable part 34 of the lock extends beyond the rear sideof the bar 32 and there carries a radial arm or dog 35, which has arearwardly extending lug 36 at its outer end. The arm29 extends belowthe unit V18 to the rear of the lug 36 andis there shaped to have upperand lower vertical flat portions a, b out of the plane of each other andconnected by an inclined joining portion c. This lower end of the-arm 29is made wide enough to be within the path of turning of the cooperatinglug 36 so that the latter in traveling d own over the inclined portion cwill vmove the arm inward to move the gear 27.

i ing machine motor 2, I provide a switch mech# rear side ofthe arm 29to hold its lower end against the lug 36 and to move the gear 27 out ofmesh .with its pinion 28 when the lug 36 is moved up the incline c ofthe arm.k

To turnen and o the current tothe washanism within the box 8. Thisswitch is clearly shown 'n Fig. 2, and it comprises a vert1 cal platedi' block 37 supported from the rear or back 'wall' 10 of the box bybolts 38,38. A horizontal bar or slide 39 is arranged above the plate 37and. is slidably supported in position by channel shaped brackets 40, 40depending from the rear side of the bar 32. 'I he latter overlaps theupper portion of the slide 39 and retains the same in said brackets. Theslide 39 has stops 41, 41 on its under side between the brackets so thatby contact therewith the endwiseV movement of the slide is limited.

the upper The slide 39 is provided in its upper edge with a number ofnotches 42, 42, one foreach meter unit 18, that is, one for each lock31. The outer ends-of the arms 35 ofthe locks enter these notbhes as thearms are turned down and slidethe bar toward the left.

A bracket 43 is securedto the under side of, the slide 39, and to thisbracket is pivoted a lever 44, which is drawn downward by a coiledspring 45 which has one end securedto the outer or free end of thelever. The other end of this spring is hooked over a lug 46 on the baseblocki 37. Pivoted on the front face of the block 37 is a switch. blade47 made'right-angular in shape and havlng end o its upper or short/armpointedy in the form of an inverted V. The lever 44 carries a V-shapedprojection 48 insulated therefrom and which rides'over the pointed upperend of said short arm to swing the long arm of the blade 47 into `andVout o contact with the fixed parts 49, 49 of the switch as the apeXes ofthe Vspass over each other. The switch parts 49 are insulated from eachother and from the block 37, and the blade 47 is also insulated fromsaid block. The switch is quick snap acting and eliminates ldestructivearcing.

. Wires 50, 51 are connected with the switch parts/ 47 49, respectively,and extend out of the yshown in Fig. 2. The wire 50 from the blade 47leads to one of the terminals of the motor 2 of the washing machine. Theother wire 51 from the switch members 49 leads to the source of currentsupply, and a third wire 52 is` connected with the other terminal of themotor 2 and leads to the source of current supply so that on closing theswitch blade47 current is turned onto the motor 2 for operating both thewashing machine and the meter. The wires 50 to 52 are housed in a bbx 8through the bottom wall thereof, as-

suitable protective casingt53,tas indicated by dotted hnesin Fig. 1, sothat 'the washing machine can not be run except -through the meter 8 andthen only by 'persons having keys gforthe locks 31. A

When the motor 2 is running, thearm 35 of the particular lock 31, which?moves the slide 39 to close the motor switch, extends down into itsnotchl 42 in the slide and the key 31'L can not be withdrawn from thelock.

On turning the key to raise the arm 35, the

latter in its swinging movement moves theV slide 39 towards the right toopen the switch and permit thea-rm 29 of the associated unit .18 .tomove the gearv 27 out. of mesh with its pinion 28 on the shaft 16 todisconnect thp unit from said shaft.

kThe meter of my present application is strong yet simple inconstruction and op.- eration and requires the user to manipulate onlyone key to set Aboth the washing machine and meter in operation.

By driving the meter by the motoru which operates the washing machine,the meter may be mounted directly on the machine as a. part of itsequipment. With the units 18 registering the duration of time thewashing machine is operated, the use of the machine is not hindered bythe .users not having the required coins to start the machine, aswithcoin con-- trolled meters. With my improved meter, the users may bebilled at stated intervals for their use of the'machine, similar to gasand electric light bills.

The details of structure shown and described may be variously changedand modi-l ed without departing from the spirit and scope of my'invention.

While I have shown m improved meterl that the meter could be equally aswell usedv in connection withany other machine capa.-

ble of u se by a number of different persons, like an ironing machine.In the latter term,

I include wringers of all 'types whether a part of the washing machineor not. i

`I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with a washing machine having an electric motor foroperating the same, of a meteron the machine and hav'- ing means forregistering the number of operation, means connecting the motor to themeter for operating the same, an electric switch for the motor, andmeans operable by a single key for closing and openingv the vswitch andsimultaneously connecting the hours and fractionsV thereof the machineis in 4the machine is in operation, an operating shaftfor said unit, agear Xed `to sind shaft, a gear slidably mounted in the unit, a springarm connected with the unitgear for moving the' same into and out ofmesh with the sha-ft gear, and key operable means for moving said arm.

3. 'The combination with an electrically operated Washing machine,of ameter for the machineand having a unit for registering the number. ofhours and fractions thereof the machine is in operation, a shaft foroperating said unit, a gear fixed to said shaft, a gear in the unit, aspring arm connected With the unit gear,\said arm having a bent portionforming ay cam, and key operable means acting on said cam portion formeshing and unmeshing said gears.

4. The combination with an electrically operated Washing machine, of ameter for the machine and having ya unit for registering the number ofhours and fractions thereof the machine is in operation, a shaft foroperating said unit, a gear xed to said shaft, a gear in the unit, anarm connected With said unit gear and having offset straight portionsand an interposed connectinginclined portion, and key operable meanshaving a projection movable over said straight and inclined por-` tions,respectively, for effecting the meshing and unlneshing of said gears.

5. The combination with kan electrically operated Washing machine, of ameter associated with said machine and having a plurality of units forregistering the number of hours and fractions thereof the machine is inoperation by different users, a main operating shaft extending past theunits and common thereto, a gear fixed/to said shaft at each unit, aslidably mounted gear ineach unit, and a single key operable means foreach unit for moving by the key the slide gear' of the unit into and outof mesh with the associated shaft gear.

6. A meter of the' character described having a plurality of registeringunits having operating gears, a common operating shaft for said units, amotor connected with said shaft for operating the same, a gear on saidshaft for each unit, a switch for said motor, an endwise movable barcommon to said units and connected with said switch, and a single keyoperable means for each unit for moving one of the unit gears into andout of mesh with its associated shaft gear, each key operable meanshaving a part to engage said bar for moving the same in oppositedirections through the key for opening and closing said switchsimultaneously with the meshing and unmeshing of the unit and shaftgears.

In testimony whereof l affix my signature this 18th day of April, 1927.

CHARLES F. SPlEli-Y.

